Badgers in Black
by The Architect Project
Summary: Nobody ever expects the Hufflepuffs. A 'Hufflepuffs-Rule-The-World' Fic.


Kudos to Mary for pointing out an annoyingly repetitive little phrase. ^.^

Rated for mild language.

* * *

Justin Finch-Fletchley was extraordinarily surprised to receive his Hogwarts acceptance letter. His parents had already enrolled him at Eton, a prestigious school that his father had attended as a young man. It was quite the task to convince them that magic was even real, let alone convince them to let him go. It had taken several weeks of begging and blackmailing them before they had relented and given him his way. **  
**It had all paid off as he stood in the crowd of first years, waiting eagerly for him to be sorted.

After what had seemed like a lifetime, Professor McGonagall called out his name.

He sat gingerly on the stool and the ratty old Sorting Hat was lowered onto his head. 'Very ambitious, aren't you?'

The voice startled Justin and he looked around the hall before he realized it was in his head. 'I guess, sir.' He thought experimentally. He heard the hat chuckle. 'Plenty of bravery and smarts, and very loyal. You show the traits of all the Houses in abundance. You blackmailed your parents to let you attend, eh? But you wish for peace and fairness in your family and friendships, a very un-Slytherin thing to feel. You're familiar with Muggle technology and customs, you wish to integrate them into the Magical world. Just like so many other Muggleborns. There is only one place to put you, mister Finch-Fletchley...'

"HUFFLEPUFF."

The black and yellow table erupted into cheers and he pulled off the hat and nearly ran to sit down at said table.

"Hullo, there. I'm Cedric," The boy next to him introduced himself. Cedric had shaggy blond hair and a crooked smile, his brown eyes smiled as he reached out his hand to Justin. Justin shook his hand, smiling back. "Justin, Justin Finch-Fletchley." Cedric nodded before turning back to the sorting, Justin following suit. Once Zambini, Blaise had been sorted (SLYTHERIN), Dumbledore had given a very odd speech and the feast started.**  
**Justin had never seen so much food before, not even at the lavish balls his father had thrown for the other nobles. There was honey-glazed ham and carrots, pudding, shepherds pie, and, most importantly, mouth-watering steak. He had barely managed to finish his dinner before the food disappeared to be replaced with desert.  
**  
**He nearly groaned as he saw the beautifully decorated dishes, deciding that he had a little more room left to eat some of that wonderful cake. **  
**When the dessert had also disappeared, much to the dismay of many of the students, the fifth year prefects led the first years to the Common Room. Justin and his peers were lead through a maze-like system of hallways, and after twenty minutes arrived at a large stack of barrels, five on the bottom, four above that, three, etc.  
**  
**"This is the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room. To enter, tap the second barrel on the second row five times. We don't have a password like the other Common Rooms, our biggest defense from pranksters and bullies is to not let them figure out where the Puff's Common Room is. If you lead them to us, you'll have to bring them in for the Seventh Years to take care of..."And on that odd note, Cedric tapped the second barrel on the second row five times and the barrels melted into an small, extravagant wooden archway leading into what looked like a cave.  
**  
**As Justin entered the common room, he realized that it was less a cave and more a hole in the ground. The walls were made from what looked like compacted dirt, and thick golden carpet covered the floor. A cozy fireplace was surrounded by yellow chairs and black bean bag chairs. Round black tables were scattered around the room, and a wall was lined with bookshelves. Wooden doors were in odd places in the room, the closest Justin could see was labeled 'Third Year Dorms'.  
**  
**"This is what our Common Room looks like to the other Houses and most of the Professors." Cedric said, smiling mysteriously as the First Years looked at him in confusion. "How it looks like to the Badgers is an entirely different story."**  
**  
He raised his was wand and cast a silent spell over the room. Justin felt the magic wash over the him, changing the appearance of the Common Room. The fireplace turned into a huge, flat black screen, the bookshelves melting into large cubbyholes holding dozens of small black laptops, the tables stayed mostly the same except for the stacks of supplies and papers piled on them. The dirt walls warped and melted into sleek white walls lined with glowing screens, names flickering across them at a panicked speed. The room had grown larger, and a dozen new doors had appeared, one labeled 'Laboratory', another labeled 'Gymnasium' along with a dozen others.  
**  
**"...wow." Hannah Abbot squeaked.  
**  
**"Hufflepuff is a largely underestimated House, as you'll learn in your seven years here. The biggest thing you'll need to know right now is it's not like the other Houses. Here, you'll be trained to go into the HSM. Or the Huffle Shadow Ministry. You'll be trained in physical, mental, emotional, and political fields based on your strengths and weaknesses. You have the option to refuse the training and you will be memory charmed and re-sorted. If you choose the continue the Path of the Puff, you'll be tested and put into groups. These groups are the Badgers in Black, the Shadows, the Political Tacticians, and the Magical Scientific Relations. There are sub sections and clearance levels, but we'll not get into that tonight. You will resign to your dorms for the night and decide if you want to continue with the Puffs or be re-sorted." The fifth year female prefect, Abigail Burbage, lectured. **  
**The first years were led to their dorms in a shocked silence.  
**  
**Justin shared a room with four other boys. Ernie McMillan, a friendly boy with shaggy blond hair and a slightly-chubby face, was in the bed next to Justin's. Wayne Hopkins and Oliver Rivers were on the other side of Justin. They already seemed to know each other and were chatting about which branch of the HSG they wanted to go into as they unpacked their trunks. The last boy was Terry Boot, a mousy boy with a round face, who had looked distinctly uncomfortable in the room and had gone to bed without unpacking.  
**  
**Justin smiled at Ernie as he opened his trunk. "Hello. I'm Justin. You're Ernie, right?" Ernie grinned brightly. "You bet I am! It's good to meet you, Justin."  
**  
**Justin shook Ernie's offered hand, surprised at his friendly, open greeting. The people he was used to back home were quiet and reserved. "So what do you think of this whole Hufflepuff thing? I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting that. I was actually hoping for Ravenclaw, you know, but I think I'll stay in Hufflepuff. It sounds really interesting."Justin tool a second to process what Ernie had said before saying, "I'm not sure. I'm still in shock, I think. I wasn't exactly planning to join a secret army when I went off to boarding school."  
**  
**Ernie chuckled at the lame joke. "Yeah. I don't think any of us were. But it sounds like an opportunity, you know?"Justin nodded as he unpacked the last of his trunk. "Right. Well, I'm going to have to think about it. G'night." Ernie responded with his own goodnight and turned his attention back to unpacking.  
**  
**Justin fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~###~~~~~~~~~~

The full force of the situation hit Justin in the morning when he realized that there were only three other beds in the room. Looking around at his dorm mates, he realized Terry Boot was missing. He asked Ernie about it. "Terry? Oh, the other boy. I don't know." He didn't look surprised that he was gone. "He didn't look like he wanted to be here. Maybe he was... You know." Ernie replied.  
**  
**'No, I don't know,' Justin thought, but didn't say aloud. He had just realized how big of a commitment joining the Puffs would be. A secret government run by school children? It sounded ridiculous. But Cedric had looked perfectly serious last night, and the Common Room... If it was the truth, Justin would probably have to be committed to it for the rest of his school days, maybe even the rest of his life.  
**  
**But he's always wanted to be a secret agent, hadn't he? He'd grown up watching James Bond. He wanted to be sleek, cool. He wanted to get the girl and have all the right tools to save the world. And this group was allowing, no, encouraging him to live his dream, if he'd accept their offer. It was a golden opportunity, and who was he to pass that up?It was about then that Justin realized that he's been staring at the ceiling for ten minutes, and breakfast started in five. He shook his head to reorient himself and quickly pulled his black and yellow robes on, checked his hair in the mirror, and hurried out of the dorm room. He paused when he saw that the Common Room had the same sleek, futuristic look that it'd had last night before once again shaking his head and forcing himself to look at the people, not the things. He quickly found Cedric, Abigail and an older boy Justin didn't recognize in a corner, their eyes focused on a screen that showed a young boy, about Justin's age, with green eyes and shaggy black hair. He slowly approached them, not wanting to bother them if what they were doing was important. Or that's what he told himself. Truthfully, he wanted to hear what they were saying. He recognized the boy on the screen from the sorting yesterday and was quite curious about the students reactions to his sorting.  
**  
**"-abusive? Dammit. This is what happens when we let Dumbledore meddle in our business. I need you to run a full background check on all three of them, stat. Yes, even the kid, Burbage. I need to know everything, got that? I want to know their personalities, their standing in the community, I want to know what time they gets up in the morning to shit. If they're deemed a threat to Potter's life, I want them memory charmed and I want Potter to be moved to a different family. We'd have to memory charm him, too, to make him think he's still living with them." The older boy put a hand to his head, like he had a headache. "And what do you want?" He snapped when he realized Justin was practically right next to him, jumping slightly. **  
**Justin stepped back fearfully, an expression of guilt on his face. The older boys eyes softened slightly in apology. "Sorry. Not many people can sneak up on me like that. I'm David, David Stonewood. I'm the Seventh Year Prefect and Captain in the HSM. I oversee training here at the school. You're Justin, right? If you need any help with anything, come to me or one of the other Prefects." Justin blinked at the sudden change in attitude. Is everyone in Hufflepuff Bipolar? Brushing off his discomfort, he said, "Thanks, sir. I was just wondering how to get to the Great Hall?" Stonewood chuckled, "Don't call me 'sir', it makes me feel old. I'm just David. And yeah, uh," he glanced around the Common Room. "I'm in the middle of damage control right now. Atterson!" A small blond girl that Justin recognized as the sixth year Prefect jumped slightly. "Can you show this Firsty to the Great Hall, please?" Atterson nodded to David, making a 'follow me' motion to Justin as she turned towards the door. He rushed after her, nodding goodbye to David and the fifth year Prefects. Atterson led him to the Hall without a word, the awkward five-minute walk seeming nearly an hour to Justin.

As he entered the Hall, he noticed Terry Boot at the Ravenclaw Table, a slightly dazed look on his face. The rest of the Ravenclaws didn't seem to find his presence there strange at all, neither did any of the other students or teachers, except for a few Hufflepuffs that glanced at him with disappointment on their faces. The glances were short and subtle, so only those who were looking for them noticed. Justin seated himself next to Ernie and dug into the massive piles of food. There was bacon and ham and eggs, ton and tons of it. Justin was going to feel right at home, he could tell.

A massive fluttering from above him drew his attention to the magnificent ceiling, dozens of birds - owls - swooping through the Great Hall. The sight was magnificent. Or it was, until there was a small 'splat' sound and Justin realized his food was now inedible. Grumbling, he pushed his plate away and fidgeted in his seat as the owls settled down near their owners.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, startling him slightly and interrupting his quiet cursing of owls. Turning around in his seat, he saw his Head of House carrying a stack of parchment. "Justin Finch-Fletchly?" He nodded. "I have your schedule... Here." She rifled through the parchment and handed one to him, a friendly smile on her face. He smiled back and she left him to marvel over his schedule. "History of Magic, then double Potions? I don't think I've ever seen a worse Monday morning." Justin was once again startled as Ernie read his schedule over his shoulder.

He groaned.

* * *

Not sure if I'm going to continue this one. I might come back to it eventually, but the writing isn't very good and I'm disappointed with my muse. Review maybe? The more support, the more I'm inspired. :) And thanks for reading!


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